Revealed: polluting impact of humans on the oceans - Science, News - Independent.co.uk
Almost every part of the world's oceans has been tainted to some extent by the destructive footprint of human activity, whether it is from overfishing and pollution or commercial shipping and coastal development.For the first time, scientists have compiled a comprehensive map of the oceans showing the extent to which they have been damaged by man. The map integrates 17 different kinds of human activity – such as nitrogen fertilisers being washed into the sea from farming – and 20 types of ocean ecosystem, from coral reefs to mangrove forests, to study which parts of the marine environment have suffered most. The scientists found more than 40 per cent of the oceans bear the scars of serious environmental degradation and that only a small percentage have remained as pristine regions free of human influence.
The team of American scientists said the extent of the damage caused by man came as a shock although they believe the information they compiled could be used to improve the conservation and future protection of the marine environment.
The worst affected waters include large areas of the North Sea, the South and East China seas, the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic off the east coast of North America, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Bering Sea, parts of the western Pacific and the Persian Gulf.